11 Tornadoes In IL From Monday Storms, Count Still Likely To Rise: NWS

ILLINOIS — Eleven tornadoes have been confirmed so far after a derecho, or a windstorm with fast-moving rain showers, tracked through northern Illinois on Monday night, according to the National Weather service.

As of Tuesday night, the weather service had confirmed 11 tornadoes in the Chicago area, and well over a dozen locations have yet to be surveyed. The storms were so violent that even employees at the National Weather Service had to take cover.

The weather service said its crews are still performing damage surveys on Wednesday, and more updates will come Wednesday afternoon.

Multiple EF-0 tornadoes as well as EF-1 tornadoes have been confirmed. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates tornadoes from 0 to 5 based on wind speed. An EF-0 tornado brings winds of 65 mph to 85 mph, while EF-1 tornadoes bring winds of 86 mph to 110 mph. The last known Chicago-area EF-5 tornado — the highest rating on the scale, with winds over 200 mph — was the 1990 Plainfield-area tornado.

The National Weather Service Chicago has confirmed the following Monday night tornadoes so far:

• Southern Winnebago County, at least one EF-0 tornado
• Byron, EF-0
• Davis Junction, EF-0
• Sugar Grove to North Aurora, EF-0
• Yorkville to south Naperville, EF- 1 tornado with peak winds of 100 mph
• Channhon to Matteson, EF-1 tornado with peak winds of 105 mph
• Crest Hill to Lockport, EF-0
• Justice, EF-1 tornado with peak winds of 90 mph
• Chicago near West Side, EF-1 tornado with peak winds of 95 mph
• Chicago Lawn to West Englewood, EF-1 tornado with peak winds of 90 mph
• Cedar Lake to Crown Point, Indiana, EF-1 tornado with peak winds of 90 mph; this tornado left a woman dead after a tree fell on her home

As of Wednesday morning, 66,279 customers are still without power, according to the ComEd outage map. Cook County has 38,276 without power, DuPage has 1,561, Kankakee has 2,054, Will has 15,230, and Winnebago has 4,892.

ComEd said that it expects to restore power to all customers by 6 p.m. on Friday.

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• Downed Trees, Debris Block Roads Throughout Naperville
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